Darla's Revenge
by Leo the Tiger
Summary: Danny and the gang clarify things with L.B. Mammoth, while Darla Dimple, now working as just a janitor and making way less money than she used to, plots to get them out of the spotlight and get herself back in it.
1. Chapter 1

**Darla's Revenge:  
A Cats Don't Dance Fanfic**

**Chapter 1**

Darla Dimple groaned and grunted as she finished up her latest mop job. She couldn't believe it. All her fame and fortune. Gone in an instant. Gone when she opened her big mouth. She just couldn't get it out of her head. After all, that fateful night, at the debut of "Li'l Ark Angel," she was the star. She was. Darla Dimple. She was the star. And yet, that obnoxiously irritating cat with the orange fur, that cat with too much ambition, that cat with the talents but not worthy to be praised, known to all simply as Danny, just had to have that big break. In the end, there he was, on top of the world, and there she was, down in the dumps, never to be in show business again, and was nothing more than just a janitor to Mammoth Pictures.

"At least it pays," she said to herself, "but I'll never forgive that cat! He took away everything I had! Well, almost everything." (She did still have her house and her money, which surprised a lot of people, but she no longer had her enormous valet, Max, so she had to spend some of it on a new set of valets and maids, just to keep her huge pink heart-shaped mansion going. To her knowledge, she had no idea where Max was, and chances are he was still flying away on that big balloon. Who knew where he'd end up?) "I was the star! I was! It was my night! Who put the microphone on me anyways? Revenge! I will have revenge! But how?" She continued to ponder how to get herself back in showbiz.

Meanwhile, the studio had finished filming its take on the classic musical "The Music Man," with Danny in the title role as Prof. Harold Hill, and Sawyer (naturally) as the librarian. (Woolie the Mammoth, although doing a bit of acting himself, had chosen mainly to focus on music composition, and had done the score and book for this film production.) The film was set to premiere at the famous Gruman's Chinese Theater the following week; the delay came about when the workers noticed the roof damage. The employees assumed it was Darla's fault, because she had (unintentionally) confessed that she flooded the stage instead of the animals when she got tangled up in the microphone. (You can only imagine the grief L.B. and Flanigan went through when she confessed.)

"What a fun role that was do," Danny commented as the cast left the studio. They made their way over to a fancy restaurant L.B. and Flanigan had invited them to, and Flanigan was having to get used to adjusting himself to directing the animals instead of Darla. "That may be my favorite one yet."

"I figured you'd like that one," said L.B. "It suits you. Tell me something, though. What happened exactly?"

"About Darla flooding the stage?"

"Yes. That cost me a fortune to repair everything. I took it out of Darla's big salary, though; if she's making any money on top of her janitorial duties, it's royalties from the films."

"As far as I know, it could only have been her. I had wanted to get an audition with you so we could prove that animals have just as big the talent and potential as humans. Yet humans always got the good parts. Next thing I knew, the ark was moving. It wasn't supposed to. It was just supposed to be a special effect for our performance. She must have chosen to turn the thing on full blast."

"She must have, because I was giving a press conference. What got you to get use of it, anyway?" (The group was now riding with L.B. in his limo.)

"She invited me to tea, and said she wanted to apologize for what Max did to me that first day of filming _Li'l Ark Angel_, because there was the incident where I upstaged her."

"Oh, yes; you went off-script. I watched the replay of that during the editing. Of course, I can see why you did that now."

"Uh-huh."

"So what did she say after she apologized?"

"She wanted to make it up to me and the other animals. She decided we should do a number in her movie. She gave me full use of the ark, sound stage, and anything else."

"Well, I knew there was something going on, because in the press conference, I was laying out the recipe for a Darla Dimple movie. After listing all the things that go into it, I said, 'Mix it all together, and what do you get?' Then I pressed the green button, the doors opened up, and the flood began. And when it finally ended, Flanigan and I proclaimed you animals would never get work in this town again. Boy, was I wrong. How was I supposed to know Darla was as evil and psychotic as could be?"

"How could anybody know? She covered it up so well," said Cranston. "After nothing but her, you had to be starving for a new star or two." L.B. nodded.

"So my plan B," Danny continued, "was what you ended up witnessing at the theater. I didn't learn until afterwards that Darla had been sabotaging the equipment, or at least trying to, but she only made it better, so we went along with it."

"Had me fooled; I thought it was genuine."

"Then suddenly, as we got our standing ovation, there she was, all tangled up in the equipment, and she must have had a microphone stuck to her, because she screamed at us, saying she should have drowned us all when she flooded the stage."

"I couldn't believe my ears," Flanigan put in as the group arrived at the restaurant. "I thought my career was over."

"So did I," L.B. added. "But it wasn't. In fact, it's practically tripled the revenue my studios have been bringing in ever since that performance. You kids are something else, you know that?"

"Thank you." As everybody walked inside to eat, they couldn't help but think to themselves that these were better days. Danny also pondered just how different life would be if he had just gone back to his hometown of Kokomo, Indian. Instead, he and his friends were big stars. L.B. would later reveal that the cat with the talent was bound to have a recording contract coming, because he loved to sing as well dance. (It was also possible Sawyer would get one of her own, because she could also sing so beautifully. As it happens, she was still doing secretary work for Farley Wink, but she was abruptly having to adjust her schedule to her other career in the showbiz world. After all, Danny said to her, "Your life isn't back there in that office. It's here.")

Cranston and Frances were big stars in their own right, having been established dance partners long before Hollywood began shunning them in favor of humans. T.W. was getting his own career going, although he wasn't singing as much as Danny. Tillie probably had the least amount of films with her in the title role, but she didn't care. She saw all the brighter things in life.

The group continued to talk over their meal, and it all became clear to everybody. It only made sense that it was Darla's doing, because she wanted all the fame and fortune to herself, and she supported the Hollywood mindset that humans were superior to animals. L.B. then stated he regretted not knowing the reasoning or the history behind that mentality, but that was the way life was.

Everybody was also happy that they had finished "The Music Man" just in time, because very soon, World War II (or WW2 for short to some people) was to break out, and the studios would be forced to put a few projects on hiatus in favor patriotic short training films (one of which would feature Danny conducting the U.S. Marine Corps Band). All the while, it wasn't going to stop Darla from what schemes she was plotting. After all, she was the star, and she wanted her fame back. She'd do anything to get it. She just wasn't sure what. Only one thing was for sure: she was on her own, for Max had long gone since Danny popped the balloon.

* * *

**TO BE CONTINUED**

**_Cats Don't Dance © Warner Bros./Turner Feature Animation  
The Music Man © Meredith Wilson, Warner Bros. (film), and everybody else who owns the rights_**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The next day was anything but good for the animals and their boss. WW2 had broken out, as a result of the Germans invading Poland. It didn't help that Japan had already been at war, invading the People's Republic of China, but the conflict was now at a global scale. What did this mean to Mammoth Pictures? The studios wouldn't be doing enough films a year to meet their normal budget expectations. They'd be forced to fit to rationing conditions. They'd be doing a lot more short films to promote the attitudes and propaganda of the war, and the fact Danny would appear as a drum major conducting the U.S. Marine Corps Band would help with that.

Danny, however, returned to his hometown of Kokomo, Indiana, since he was both on vacation and doing the film production company a favor by promoting "The Music Man," by serving as an actual drum major leading such a band. Sawyer and the other animals just watched as spectators. Kokomo had never had such a big celebration as it did that day, because the pride of the city was now Hollywood's biggest star. Bigger than Joan Crawford, Cary Grant, or even W.C. Fields. "And to think it was once Darla Dimple," Danny said in a speech he gave on a Presidential-style podium after the parade, which the press put in the newspaper for the next day's edition. "I was thrilled to star in a movie with her. Of course, that was before I knew the real her. I'm impressed I wasn't hurt when Darla's huge valet, Max, smashed me into the floor. It also didn't occur to me until too late that the truth about Hollywood was that it was showing favoritism to humans. I wasn't happy that the animals were accepting the human supremacy. I almost even called it quits and came back here just for the simple farm life, or even for a factory job. But I'm so glad I didn't. Mind you I couldn't have done it without these magnificent seven over here!" He motioned to Sawyer, Cranston, Frances, T.W., Tillie, Woolie, and Pudge, and the crowds cheered for them.

The press had a few questions to ask Danny, mainly regarding how Darla flooded the studio and got him and the others framed for it. "It was so frustrating, because it wasn't their fault," he replied. "They weren't going to get even a simple meow, woof, growl, or whatever animals do."

"So how did they find out she did it?"

"She said so. Remember, she was actually trying to sabotage the show, which has now been considered the greatest impromptu performance in history. Why? Because 1) we can actually sing and dance, and 2) her attempts to sabotage it made it better. She must have gone through a trap door, because she emerged with a microphone attached to her head. She screamed that she should have drowned us all when she flooded the stage, and the microphone picked up the comment. She has never been in a movie ever since."

"What was your first movie since then, if this wasn't it?"

"This was it."

"Oh, sorry."

"And what stage was it?"

"Stage 13. Talk about unlucky."

Meanwhile, the navies of the world that were fighting the war had reported sights of a huge splashdown, and were complaining about hearing a series of groans and calling for Darla Dimple. That could only have meant one thing: the runaway balloon had run out of helium, and Max was trying to find land. Of course, he had no knowledge of the fact Darla was now nothing but a grumpy janitor. As a result, he was determined to get his own back on the animals. He just wasn't sure how to do it. Nobody knew about Max, so he just decided to play it safe and stay out of sight. It was a good thing he could swim. (Also, he himself decided to get rid of Danny and Pudge right before the performance, which almost led him to miss it.)

Darla got the news about Max splashing down, and she determined it was him. She continued to plot her big scheme, but at the same time she was worried, because she had replaced him with normal human-sized maids and butlers. How was he going to react? Would his own plan to get revenge on her and the animals conflict with what she had in mind? And what's more, how would she effectively break the news to him that she was nothing more than just a janitor? Not to mention, she had a big debt to pay off, because she was allowed to keep her mansion. (It spawned a number of protests, by the way, all of which wanted her to be stripped of everything. Instead, she still had her mansion, and she still had her handprints in concrete at Gruman's Chinese Theater. Soon, the animals would have their handprints in concrete, save for Pudge, who elected to decline.)

Danny and his pals didn't hear about the splashdown until they returned to Hollywood. "You don't think that was Max, do you, Danny?" Pudge asked nervously.

"Could be," said Danny. "Who else could make such a big splash? And he wasn't even doing a circus act." He began to scat the melody and rhythms to "Entry of the Gladiators." And rightfully so, since one of what was though to be his idiosyncrasies became one of his most beloved trademarks. (His favorite one to scat was "The Stars and Stripes Forever.") When he finished, he continued, "One thing is for certain. If he comes back, he'll want his revenge."

"What would we do?"

"I don't know, but surely we'll think of something."

"I hope so."

Sawyer discussed the same thing with Farley Wink as she returned to what was now just a part-time job for the animal agent. "I don't know, Farley," she said when he asked if it was Max, "but I wouldn't be surprised. All I know is that it prevented enemy gunfire, because war's broke out. As if we didn't have enough of those, but still, it's frustrating."

"I know, right? Adolf Hitler's not the first one to conquer the world. Maybe they'll make a movie about him and make him really stupid."

"At the risk of getting killed by him, yes." Sawyer sat back down and continued to type. Farley walked back into his office and began answering more phone calls.

All the while, it was just a matter of time before Darla would hatch her scheme.

* * *

**TO BE CONTINUED**

_Cats Don't Dance © Warner Bros./Turner Feature Animation  
The Music Man © Meredith Wilson, Warner Bros. (film), and everybody else who owns the rights_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

About three weeks later, while Danny was facing problems with being typecast as a drum major (upon discovering he had the natural abilites to lead a band), Max had finally managed to swim undetected and make it back to Hollywood. All he could do was walk around, looking for Darla. He groaned at the sounds of the music he heard, because he still believed that Darla was still the star she deserved to be. When people caught sight of him, however, they ran and fled for their lives screaming. All they could do was hide, given the circumstances.

Finally, Max had made it back to Darla's mansion. He looked inside, and saw Darla sitting here, but when he caught sight of the other maids and servants, he burst the door open, leading them to scream and hide.

"Max?" she shrieked. "What are you doing here?"

"YOU DARE REPLACE ME, MISS DIMPLE?!" he bellowed.

"No, no! You don't understand!" she argued, trying to cover the truth with a lie. "They're just temporary!"

Max let out a groan, and then picked her up, scaring her for once. "HOW DOES THE PRINCESS GO?" he said.

"Uh, Max?" Darla began, trying to reason with him. He misinterpreted her repsonse, and so he replied, "VERY GOOD!" He then pushed her out from under his thumb, and she tumbled to the ground, much like she did when she told Flanigan to lower her after she called for a cut, when Danny upstaged her. The other maids and servants rushed to help her back up, and she soon devolped a splitting headache.

Eventually they all managed to talk some sense into the huge valet, and he listened attentively. He continued to moan and groan all throughout the story that was news to him, and when she got to the part where she revealed she was now nothing but a janitor, it continued to anger him to the point of no return. He still held a grudge on Darla for allegedly replacing her with the others, but in the end, they compromised, and Max got his job back but was held back so the others could do their jobs. After all, it was a big mansion, and since Darla was allowed to collect royalties for all the films she had starred in prior to her accidental confession, she had enough money to keep the house going, and enough to pay everybody.

Later, when the other servants and maids had gone, Darla consulted with Max privately. "Yes," she confirmed. "I do still want my movie career back. I was the star, after all. It was my night. And yes, I should have drowned them all when I flooded the stage. And yet, because the microphone picked my voice up, there I was, having confessed the truth about the flooding, and the next thing I knew, I fell through a trapdoor. One of those animals must have done it. Then I called for you, not knowing where you were."

"IN FRANCE, MISS DIMPLE!"

"France?"

"YES. IT WAS THAT CAT! JUST LISTEN TO THIS!" Max turned on the radio, which picked up an interview with Danny. The press just couldn't get enough of him and his role as Prof. Harold Hill. And why wouldn't they?

"That was Max who must have made the splashdown," he said, "because the last time I saw him was on the roof of the theater. He's loyal to Darla, so he must have heard us setting up for the performance we planned to do. It was impromptu, of course, the performance. But when he showed up backstage, which has to prove he's got super-hearing, or something, he decided to go on his own, without any prompting. So he punched all the holes in the roof that the people have been spending weeks to repair, just to grab me if not kill me. Eventually I tried to escape on the big Darla balloon, which he eventually climbed on, and he chased me back to the theater."

"Then what happened?"

"He laughed as he prepared to put an end to me, but then he felt the balloon touching one of the pointy points of the roof. I asked him what he asked me when he interrupted the filming of _Li'l Ark Angel_, which were, 'How does the kitty cat go?' He said, 'Meow?' I said, 'Very good.' Then I pulled the rope, popped the balloon, and off he went. Then we could go do our show, and you know the rest."

"Indeed."

By that point, Max turned off the radio. Darla continued to ponder over what to sabotage or ruin next in a last-ditch effort to get her stardom back, but she decided it was better to just rest that day, and so she did. She did, however, make a phone call like she did before, and as before, the people on the other end were ignorant towards the fact she was plotting a scheme.

"Publicity department," the operator began.

"Is L.B.'s next big press conference over the animals still Thursday at 3:00 p.m.?"

"Yes, it is, Miss Dimple."

"Oh, thank you so much!" She hung up and smiled that evil smile of hers.

Meanwhile, after the press finished talking to Danny to put the story in the paper, the cat walked on home, whistling to himself, and singing the lyrics to the song "I Want a Girl (Just Like the Girl that Married Dear Old Dad)." He also gave himself an idea for what was to be expected, because he was not only involved in acting, but in singing. Specifically, he and the musicians that would accompany him and Sawyer (one being Woolie on piano, with T.W. also making contributions on other instruments) was a mix of jazz, old-school vaudeville songs, and even marching songs with lyrics (and the marching songs were because WW2 was going on, and morale needed boosted). And having just done "The Music Man," some of those numbers would naturally be included in these recordings. In instrumental recordings, he'd play the trumpet (since he could play it), whereas Sawyer just sang.

Many things were happening not just in Hollywood, but in all of America at this time. It was just a question of what happened when, and what was to come later on.

* * *

**TO BE CONTINUED**

******_Cats Don't Dance © Warner Bros./Turner Feature Animation  
The Music Man © Meredith Wilson, Warner Bros. (film), and everybody else who owns the rights_**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The next day was the first of several recording sessions of Danny and Sawyer as jazz vocalists and performers. The difference was that Sawyer only sang. It happened in the afternoon, since the morning had seen the animals film a patriotic training short film, and rightfully so; it was WW2, after all. L.B. Mammoth was just grateful he didn't have to put the whole studio on hiatus, at least not until the first U.S.O. gig. Danny could also play the trumpet, whereas Woolie contributed on piano, and T.W. did a few auxiliary percussion instruments to add to the effect. As for the other animals, Cranston had taught himself to play the clarinet, but Frances and Tillie did not. Of course, Pudge played the saxophone.

There were more vocals in the music than there were instrumental tracks on this first album, simply titled "Danny & Friends" after what was to be the groups name. (Alternatively, the band thought about calling themselves "Danny the Song & Dance Cat and His Orchestra," with Sawyer just as the featured vocalist, since many big band numbers had a woman sing it more so than a man sing it, as far as one knew.) Overall, it went well, even with the few re-takes. Anything that was improvised was accepted on the first go. Otherwise, some tunes required multiple takes, including partial takes. The producers also had to promise the animals they wouldn't show any bias involved, considering Hollywood was once cruel to animals and always gave humans the better parts. (Not even L.B. figured out where that started, but he just went with the mindset. That was why the secret of his success was "Simple; it's Dimple!" But when the animals had put on a great performance, even he and Flanigan were applauding.)

But that night wasn't a night to remember, not just because there weren't any films to show or performances to give. It was a night to be frightened. Sawyer couldn't believe it as soon as she stepped into her house. "What the...?!" she exclaimed. "My house! It's been ransacked! Help! I'm calling the police, and then I'm calling Danny! He'll know what to do!"

The cops arrived with Danny later that night. "What happened here?" he asked Sawyer.

"I don't know," she replied, all upset. "All I know is that I came home and my house was a mess. The cabinets are broke; all my dishes have been cracked, and my dishwasher's flooding the kitchen!"

"Was there anything that got stolen?" asked the cops. "And why is there a hole in the roof?"

"As far as I can tell, nothing has been stolen, officers. It's just all broken, and it's going to cost me a fortune to get all of it replaced. Good thing I have insurance."

"Yes."

After some more investigations, the police confirmed that nothing was stolen, but everything was broken. Later red alerts revealed that the same thing happened to all the animals except Danny, who still hadn't bought a house with his payday yet, considering he hadn't been in Hollywood all that long, and was still in his hotel room. Woolie's home also wasn't damaged at all, because it was that home located inside the studio. (After the revelation that the flooding was Darla's doings, the ban was lifted, and Woolie's home was replaced, brand new, at no cost to him.) The only one that didn't seem to mind the flooding was Frances; after all, she was a fish. She was, however, upset with the hole in the roof and all the stuff that was broken.

"Oh, sorry about that," she said when the flooding got to the officers when they checked her house. "It's the dishwasher. My other washing machine also flooded to the brim."

"That's apparently happened to you and all your friends, except the mammoth," the police replied. "This is a whole crime wave." The investigation's continued, and Danny commented that he had a hunch as to who was behind it.

Meanwhile, Darla and Max laughed their evils laughs all night long.

* * *

**TO BE CONTINUED**

******_Cats Don't Dance © Warner Bros., Turner Feature Animation, and everybody else who owns the rights_**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"You don't suppose that was Darla, do you, Danny?" Pudge asked Danny when the cat came by to see his best friend after the penguin's house was totaled.

"Who else could it be?" Danny replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Why else do you think she would sabotage us?"

"Because she wants to drown us?"

"She said that the night of the _Li'l Ark Angel_ premiere. She was the star of the movie, yes, but all I wanted was for Hollywood to understand that animals have star quality just as humans do. Neither one should be superior to the other one."

"Then what do you think it is?"

"I could be wrong, but I think it may be because she wants to put us out of business so she can get back into show biz. But the public doesn't trust her anymore. Not after she confessed that she flooded the stage. It was her. Believe me."

"How come she didn't get you?"

"I don't have a house here yet. I'm still in the hotel room I am renting."

"Oh."

The two got to work on cleaning some of the rubbish up, and then hired a service that would do the rest of the damage repair, of which Danny would later recommend to his other friends (except Woolie, who had already had his house replaced by means of reparing the studio; although he still was the mascot, he was earning extra writing the music as well as directing it). Danny also made sure L.B. Mammoth and Flanigan knew about the ransacking, whether or not it actually was Darla and Max's doing. But what it guaranteed (alongisde the perils of WW2) was that the animals wouldn't have any work for a while. None of them complained, however, because the difference between this and the day Darla flooded the studio was that at that time, nobody knew it was her, and so the animals felt they weren't even going to get a simple "meow," "woof," or whatever. This time, everybody knew Darla's dark side, so the big executives of Hollywood wouldn't want to hire her even after she turned over a new leaf, if she was ever to turn over a new leaf. (Chances are, the experts said, that if she were, she'd give up being in showbiz and go to do something else.)

Taking advantage of not been able to do any acting, the animals continued their music recording careers, and even began to tour locally in various clubs. Each club decided to hire extra security in order to ensure Darla wasn't going to get inside. Each club featured the big band and a few small combos, each of which had Sawyer sing, and had Danny sing and/or play the trumpet. As mentioned before, it featured Pudge on saxophone, and occasionally Cranston on clarinet. A random lion that would have been alongside Danny had the ark performance gone as planned instead of Darla flooding it, and was the lion that Danny originally interrupted in order to get more limelight time in, played the drums.

Darla, meanwhile, wasn't in the mood to go to any of these clubs and ruin the shows, because she was still gloating over the animals' homes being totaled. "Laughable, isn't it, Max?" she grinned with an evil grin. "Anything they earn now will go towards reparing their homes! And I can come out way ahead of them! I'll be back in the movies in no time!" Both continued to laugh the whole night through.

All the while, Max still held a grudge on the ones who allegedly had replaced him according to his wrong instincts, and secretly wanted to get rid of them. But that was to be put on hold, given he was loyal to Darla's main ambition of getting her back in the spotlight, and getting the animals (or at least Danny) out of it.

* * *

**TO BE CONTINUED**

**C****_ats Don't Dance © Warner Bros., Turner Feature Animation, and everybody else who owns the rights_**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The next day, the insurance companies is association with the animals' acting and singing careers announced that the animals themselves didn't have to pay a penny out of pocket for replacement of their homes and/or posessions. Darla overheard this while working on her janitorial duties. To her surprise, she also heard that her movies were still as popular as ever, even though she had been exposed as a fraud when she confessed that she flooded the stage. The difference was that while she'd continue to profit off her movies, she just wasn't going to star in any more of them. Still, she wanted her real job back.

"How'd that happen?" she said to herself. "That's good that my films are still popular, but there's more just waiting to be made. And they should star me, not that stupid cat! I'll never forgive him!" All together, since her unplanned early retirement, she had clocked up another $4 million (net worth), but that wasn't satisfying to her. She always wanted more. More movies. More money. More stardom. More of everything. She just seemed to get greedier and greedier by the minute.

Darla had another problem, however. Because she had ransacked the animals' homes with the help of her enormous valet, she had the police hunting her down, and the press was siding with the police (a true rarity in journalism, because the press, as everybody knows, villifies the police to the point of no return). People even placed bets as to how long it would take the police to arrest her and have her tried as an adult. Of course, Max would break her out of jail easily, assuming the jail had prison guards too stupid to keep her contained. With Darla's infamy, it wasn't very likely.

The animals discussed this at a nearby diner, where they drank coffee along with their breakfast meals (although Frances had water with hers).

"How do we prove it was Darla?" Pudge asked.

"I don't know," said Sawyer. "Nobody saw her do it if it was her. All I know is that I left my home all in one piece, and when I came back, it was in pieces. I do believe the police are doing some finger printing."

"And then there's that big, dumb Max," Pudge continued. "I was going to slug him for you, Danny, on that first day of filming, but I didn't want to hurt the guy."

"Yeah; if I didn't know better, or if I did know better, I'd say it was Max who actually destroyed our homes," Danny replied. The group then paused for a second, and then all had a flash of insight. "Hey!" they all exclaimed in unison. "That's it! It was Max!"

"So the charges would go on him instead of Darla, right?" Tillie chimed in.

"I think so," said Sawyer, "but he does what Darla tells him to, so she's still guilty, one way or another."

The next day, the police reported that all finger prints found on various things, as well as other investigative journalism and detective work, confirmed that it was Max's doing, but since he was acting on Darla's behalf, it only complicated things for the girl formerly known as "America's sweetheart, lover of children and animals." In truth, she loved children, but hated animals. The police had not caught Max, however, because he had gone into hiding (at Darla's insisting), and all the while, he still wanted to get rid of her other servants and maids so he could be her sole valet.

"I can't afford to do that, Max," she sobbed. "Remember, I'm only a janitor now."

"WHATEVER, MISS DIMPLE!" Max snorted. "I WON'T HAVE IT!"

"You have to have it!"

"I WON'T!" He stomped off, and soon he was his own villain. Yes. You guessed it. He destroyed the homes of the maids and servants. He even destroyed her palace! When they reported this to Darla the next day, she continued to sob her eyes out. Her plan was kaput, all by the means of her own valet. At that point, she lost it, so she called the animals to her mansion the next day.

"Whoa!" Pudge exlcaimed. "Your home is a mess!"

"Yes!" Darla cried. "Yes! It's all over now! My life is through! All I wanted was to be the star again! Now I am bankrupt, and just being a janitor won't pay for this! Not to mention, they were victims as well."

"Harsh," Danny exclaimed. "Tell us, though. "Was it your idea to sabotage us?"

"It was, but Max took it too far. I wanted him to damage your homes, but he destroyed them entirely. Tell me something, though. How come he didn't get you, Dino?"

"It's Danny," Danny replied.

"Oh, yeah. Danny."

"I don't have a home. I've only been in a hotel room."

"Oh."

"He hasn't got to that yet as far as I know. But if we don't find a way to stop him, he'll possibly destroy all of Hollywood. Listen, Miss Dimple; I'm sorry if I upset you on that first day of _Li'l Ark Angel_, but at the time, I had no idea Hollywood was showing the humans favoritism. All I wanted was to prove that animals have talent. I guess I took it too far."

"You did, but looking back at it now, I can see why you did that." Darla contined to sob the tears as she, for the first time, was able to make an effective apology. She gave hugs to each of the animals. Then she asked if she could have a good scream, and they said yes. She walked outside, and she let out a big scream.

Max continued to groan and grunt as he continued his rampage of various houses. He even destroyed L.B. Mammoth's home, and Flanigan was homeless as well. He just ignored the remark, for he knew what was coming, but from 50 miles away, he could hear Darla letting out her big scream.

"MAX!" she bellowed at full volume. "YOU'RE FIRED!"

* * *

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Now it was getting even more complicated. How were Darla's films still so popular, even though absolutely nobody in show biz wanted her to come back? What snapped Max into going beyond what the girl he served told him to do? She told him to damage the homes, not destroy them. They were ransacked. The only ones that escaped were Danny, because he had no home yet, and Woolie, because his had already been replaced and was still inside the studio. In fact, because Max was rampaging to destroy Mammoth Studios in his quest to destroy all of Hollywood, and for absolutely no reason whatsoever, the studio postponed any future picture filming dates so that they could help relocate Woolie's home to a safe spot (although just temporarily).

At a press conference, with tears in her eyes, and airing live from the jail cell she was in (at least until the trial), and she was in jail because she was accused of destroying all the houses at first, Darla spoke to the people about everything, complete with a podium with microphones. "This is what fame and fortune does to you, people," she said, "but the whole fault is my own, or so I felt. I wanted to be the star again, and I wanted the animals out of my way. But just to clarify, all I told Max to do was cause damage to their homes, not to destroy them. And I didn't see him do it. I knew he did it, because I could hear him. In fact, I think the whole world heard him, even with this crazy war going on. Greed overtook me because I let it, and now, I have thrown my whole life away.

"You weren't specific?" asked the press.

"No, I guess not. But listen to this. It is true that I told Max to damage the homes, but wasn't specific, but it's also true, as you well know, that Max came to the assumption that I fired him in place of those other servants and maids, but I didn't know he was coming back. I didn't officially fire him until he destroyed my huge pink mansion, and this was after he destroyed the homes of the other servants and maids. The good news is that not a single innocent life was hurt yet. The bad news is that this is going to cost us an arm and a leg times 2,000 just to replace everything. Now I'm here in jail, awaiting the trial to determine where exactly I fit in, because some say it was entirely my scheme to get rid of the animals, which is not true; I just wanted them out of the way so I could be the star again. That night was my night, after all. _Li'l Ark Angel_ was my last movie. And yes, I did try to sabotage the show the animals put on, but all it did was make it better, as well as cause me injury. I don't know where that microphone came from, but because it was there, you all heard me tell them that I flooded the stage. I flooded it indirectly; I gave Max instructions, and he did all the work, because he has all the physical strength I lack."

"So what turned Max against you, then?"

"Again, it goes back to him spotting the other servants and maids. I tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn't listen to me. Eventually we got him to listen to us, and I thought he was genuine. Nope; he was acting. Ironic, isn't it? Now he's out there causing chaos, and there's no army to stop him because the war is happening. Or is there? Whatever has to be done, we have to stop him. But the rest of the destruction? That's entirely his doing. There's no reason he's doing it. He just decided to do it."

"Will he ever be your valet again?"

"Never. I'm through with him. I'm not done with this town, but I'm done with Max."

Indeed, the California National Guard had been called out to stop Max on his rampage of terror, but wasn't having any luck. While the rest of the animals took cover, Danny sneaked out to try to stop Max.

"Are you nuts?" Sawyer exclaimed.

"No, I'm Danny!" Danny smiled, cracking a joke. A grizzly bear listening in scatted the traditional drum response to a joke.

"Where's he going?" Pudge asked as he ran off.

"I don't know," said Sawyer, "but knowing the way he jump-started all our careers, I wouldn't be surprised, whatever he does."

By now, half of Hollywood was in rubbish, almost making it look like a tornado came through and hit the city. It was causing many of its biggest celebrities to relocate to New York City, assuming Max wasn't going to go there. He wasn't; he was just destroying Hollywood and the entertainment industry. The quick-thinking cat figured to himself, however, that the best way to defeat Max was for one of his tactics to be put to good use. An upcoming film was to star the celebrated feline as a circus ringmaster, so he decided that since Alcatraz Island wanted Max (and they had set up a special solitary island prison cell just for him, designed to prevent him from ever escaping), he might as well get there in the circus style.

Max's ears heard the whistling from Danny's drum major whistle he used to play Prof. Harold Hill (and Danny was wearing his drum major's uniform for this). Naturally, he followed Danny, wanting to smash him to bits. But what Max didn't know was that Danny was luring him into a trap. He only realized it was a trap when it was too late; this occured when he gasped over smashing a rubber ducky while standing on top of a net.

"Where'd he get the net?" asked Pudge.

"Who knows, darling?" Frances replied. "Who knows anything? This makes no more sense than my first husband."

"I guess it's one of life's unsolved mysteries," Cranston chimed in. "Best to leave it at that. Besides, now that I've come to trust the cat, I'm certain he knows what he's doing. And to think I used to be so skeptical of him."

Max bent down to grab Danny, laughing an evil laugh all the way. When he saw the net, however, he began to cringe. As before, Danny asked him, "How does the kitty cat go?"

"Meow?" Max said weakly, again sweating bullets as he did before.

"Very good!" Danny pulled on the net, and it engulfed Max inside. Then the soldiers sent to stop him helped Danny push him into a huge giant cannon. They set it up so that it would aim Max right for the cell, and the scene was not only attracting the public, but the press as well. Multiple military bands even launched into the traditional circus tune, "March of the Gladiators." When it was all done, Danny called the audience's attention with his whistle.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he said with the true ringmaster style, "now direct your attention to the center ring! You are about to see the Great Maxoni perform the world's biggest human cannonball!" The trumpeters played a fanfare, and the drummers began a very tense drum roll that crescendoed to an almost deafening tone. The onlookers were also given protection for their ears in advance, considering the large "BOOM!" that was about to sound from the cannon. Danny himself lit the match and lit the fuse that was to fire the cannon.

Because Darla had been let of jail temporarily so she could watch this, she said to herself, "Oh! Good riddance! Now I can get back to my rehabilitation in peace, although I still want to go back into show biz. But the animals have won this day yet again. Oh, well. I'll be back! But not now. Bye-bye, Max!" She smiled her own evil smile as the fuse continued burning.

Max, however, being who he was, and having gone insane, assumed Darla was the one who arranged all this as payback for him destroying her house, and his destruction rampage was revenge on her for firing him after he destroyed her house, because he was loyal to none but himself and her, assuming he would be her only valet. Thus, when the big moment came, and the big "BOOM!" occured that shot him out of the cannon, he bellowed, "YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS, MISS DIMPLE!" And yes, as Danny was hoping for, he landed right in the very cell that was prepared for him. The crowds knew it was a success because there was no splash, so the bands performed a cymbal crash and a "Ta-da!" trumpet fanfare as the crowds cheered.

Darla spoke some more after that to continue her press conference. "As you can see," she concluded, "we both wanted revenge. I had a reason, though; he didn't. We both failed. After all, revenge doesn't pay, just as crime doesn't. Where the whole thing about Hollywood making animals inferior to humans started, you ask? I don't know. I just accepted it, and I was your typical spoiled brat about it. Yet none of you knew my dark side until I confess I flooded the stage, although now you know that Max did as I told him to. I still accept repsonsibility for it, and the punishment of kicking me out of show business and reducing me to a janitor was a justified one. But Max is gone now."

The animals ran to congratulate Danny. "Why?" Sawyer asked, still stunned by everything. "Why'd you have to do it that way?"

"I knew he couldn't resist me," Danny replied. "He's still stuck in the mentality of how life was before Darla was exposed as a fraud. He wants to eradicate animals. Well, he did. He can't get out of that prison cell now. It's wound up and locked up tighter than a drum. I just don't have the proper ringmaster's clothes yet, so I wore this instead."

"Is this also a teaser for that upcoming movie?" Woolie asked.

"It is; why?"

"Now I know what music to write for it. It's so much fun, writing music!"

"Not to mention performing it!"

"Indeed." The bands struck up tunes to boost the morale of the people, and to celebrate their victory over Max, and the ingenious insticts of Hollywood's favorite cat. That night, the public was treated to some more jazz. But one question still remained: what was to become of Darla?

* * *

**TO BE CONTINUED**

**Ca****_ts Don't Dance © Warner Bros., Turner Feature Animation, and everybody else who owns the rights._**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

The next day, the trial began. Danny and the other animals did have to testify against Darla, but at the same time, the judge and the jury were confused on how to rule this trial. After all of them solemnly swore on the Bible that they would tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, the judge found and determined that everything he heard was the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Darla's ambition was to push the animals out of the way so she could get back into showbiz, but she had lost the urge to murder anybody. At the time she flooded the stage, she just wanted them all fired so she could be the star all the time; she only said she wished she had drowned them when her screaming was picked up into the microphone.

In his testimony, Danny remarked, "It was all culture shock to me. I might have been better off on that first time if I had just done what I was supposed to, but I was naive and ambitious. And I wasn't happy, nor was I willing to accept the truth that humans were superiors to animals in Hollywood. I'm amazed many of them stuck it out and just went with the propaganda. I wanted to change that. I wanted the public to accept us animals, because we have the talent, too. So why did you humans ignore us? Why did you treat us like dirt? Where did that start? We may not know the answers to some of these questions, as much as I wish we did, but one thing's for sure. You have to be optimistic, not pessimissitc."

"Have you finished your rehab yet, Darla?" the judge asked.

"Not entirely, because there's still a few days to go," Darla replied, "but the urge to do evil is gone. It was all the bad dreams I had following the scene where Max destroyed my house that convinced me that life in the spotlight wasn't worth it anymore. All I can say is that I'm sorry! There's a reason I have been reduced to a janitor. All I wanted was to be the star again. But being the star all the time isn't healthy. The 99.99% of people who are not famous and never will be famous have it so good. They don't know how good they have it! They don't have the press following them around everywhere like I did, and like the animals do now. Is it a wonder, therefore, that the ordinary people can have a marriage that lasts 50+ years, while the celebrities like myself don't last even one year, or even one month? I'm amazed everybody let me keep the big mansion, to be honest, and it's taking a lot of people just to keep it going."

"If I have to have my studio pay for some of the repairs, so be it," L.B. Mammoth chimed in. "I just regret not using those animals to start with, because if they have the talent humans have, they should be used to exploit it. I now have the mascot of my studio writing music for my films, and sometimes directing it if necessary. He's so good at it."

While the jury had their long discussion, Darla said to Danny, "You know how you said you thought about leaving Hollywood forever after I flooded the stage with Max's help? Now I'm wanting to do the same thing."

"Do you, Miss Dimple? Why?"

"Well, for one thing, it's over. You defeated me."

"Well, here's the truth. I didn't want you to end your career like that. All I wanted was for animals to get noticed because they are just as talented. I didn't intend for humans to stop being in films altogether. When we filmed 'The Music Man,' we portrayed humans and animals living side by side in peace and harmony."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. You only got fired because you flooded the stage. Had you let things go as planned, you'd still be a star. You'd just be in one movie while I'd be in another."

"So how come you sing as well as act?"

"The singing is a backup. Remember, we have World War 2 going on."

"Oh."

"In fact, the Germans had to delay attacking the Polish troops because Max made that big splashdown. I didn't know where that balloon was going to end up. I just popped it to get him off my back so we could perform. We had no idea that was you doing all the special effects."

"Because I wanted to sabotage the show. All I did was hurt myself while it made everybody happy." Darla couldn't stop herself from shedding tears at this point, and all Danny could do was give her a hug, which he did.

Later, the jurors returned. "Has the jury reached a verdict?" the judge asked.

"We have, Your Honor," said the head of the jury. "We, the jury, find the defendant, Miss Darla Dimple, guilty, in terms of when she flooded the stage, because her valet was obeying her orders. However, we find her not guilty, when you speak about the destruction of Hollywood, because as we have seen, her valet took all matters all upon himself to destroy the town. She owes a fine, we determined, that would go to repairing all the homes of the animals, and the servants and maids, that Max destroyed. However, she does not have to pay for her own home's repairs."

"That sounds fair," said Darla. "What's the fine?"

"$200,000 is what it totals," said the judge after looking at the records. "Will that work for you?"

"It will work."

"Oh, and there's also 20 hours of community service to be done. Don't worry; we'll help you get started with that."

"Okay."

"Case dismissed." The judge banged his gavel, and the court was adjourned. Darla then approached the bench at the judge's asking, and he gave her instructions on where to go the community service, and how to do it.

The next day, Darla got to work on completing the community service, while Danny and his friends continued to promote support for the efforts.

From that day forth, everything went uphill for everybody. Darla began to show true signs of repentance, and made sure she kept her promise never to be a spoiled bratty princess ever again. In due time, she was to return to showbiz, but it was a gradual process, and she found more satisfaction sharing the spotlight with the animals. And when she finally got back into showbiz, the movie she starred in would turn out to be her biggest success yet. Why was it so successful? She got to be the star, but she got to share the glory with the animal stars. The musical number at the end helped make it a big success.

Overall, everybody was happy. Danny the Song and Dance Cat was the biggest phenomenon in both Hollywood and in popular music, but it worked out so well since he was able to maintain a balance with the new and improved Darla Dimple.

THE END

_Cats Don't Dance © Warner Bros., Turner Feature Animation, and everybody else who owns the rights  
The Music Man © Meredith Wilson and everybody else who owns the rights_


End file.
